In praise of Wayne
Morse and Barbara Lee
Commentary
by DICK DORWORTH
"Hatred
is the vice of narrow souls; they feed it with all their littlenesses, and
make it the pretext of base tyrannies."
- Honoré
de Balzac
Remember
Wayne Morse? Or, rather, remember Wayne Morse!
In August
1964, Sen. Wayne Morse of Oregon was one of two members of Congress to
oppose the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which effectively gave President
Lyndon Johnson carte blanche control and freedom to wage war in Vietnam.
Morse predicted that "history will record that we have made a grave
mistake" in Vietnam.
History did
so record.
At the
time, the outspoken Morse was reviled by the media in his home state of
Oregon and in the nation and by much, but certainly not all, of the
American public. His was a lonely stand, one he said his conscience
required him to take, and by taking it he made many political enemies,
including Lyndon Johnson. Morse said he "did not intend to put the
blood of this war on his hands." Heresy always has a price, and in
the 1968 election he lost the Senate seat he had held for 24 years to a
slick politician named Robert Packwood. (Remember Bob Packwood and what
his conscience required him to do?) Morse was a media pariah for the
remaining 25 years of his life, rarely mentioned, little remembered, but
those years were productive, vital and active, and he lived them with a
clear conscience and clean hands.
Morse was
the first candle of light in the dark night of Vietnam War fever. He was
not the last, and many Americans were grateful to and inspired by him for
his stand, his integrity and his light.
Interestingly
enough, Johnson’s political career was also ended by his stand on
Vietnam, and he was damaged as a man for the remainder of his life by it.
On Sept.
14, 2001, Rep. Barbara Lee of California was the only member of Congress
to vote against H.J. Res. 64, which ceded Congress’ future authority to
President Bush regarding the use of military force against terrorists.
She
explained her dissent as a call for restraint, a lonely stand to take in
the wake of the passions aroused by the horrors inflicted on the United
States on Sept. 11. On the House floor she said, "There must be some
of us who say, let’s step back for a moment and think through the
implications of our actions today—let us more fully understand its
consequences. Far too many innocent people have already died."
Remember
those words: "Far too many innocent people have already died."
I find her
stand both courageous and practical and a healthy antidote to the
vitriolic drum beating of people like Lance Morrow who wrote in Time
magazine, "America needs to relearn a lost discipline, self-confident
relentlessness—and to relearn why human nature has equipped us all with
a weapon (abhorred in decent peacetime societies) called hatred."
Morrow’s
sentiment calls to mind these words of Balzac, "Hatred is the vice of
narrow souls; they feed it with all their littlenesses, and make it the
pretext of base tyrannies."
Lest Rep.
Lee’s stand be misunderstood, it is worth reminding ourselves that on
Sept. 12 she voted in favor of H.J. Res. 61, which, among other things,
condemns the terrorist attacks and supports the President in punishing the
perpetrators of the attacks. The next day she voted for H. Con. Res. 225,
which provides financial relief to victims of the attacks and safety
officers killed or injured in the attacks. On Sept. 14 she voted in favor
of H.R. 2888, which provides $40 billion in emergency funding for
increased public safety, anti-terrorism activities, disaster recovery
efforts, and assistance for the victims of the terrorist attacks.
Also on
Sept. 14, in Lee’s own words, "I voted against H. J. Res. 64, which
ceded Congress’s future authority to the President regarding the use of
military force in response to the terrorist attacks. Our Constitution
provides for checks and balances between our branches of government. This
resolution does not obligate the President to report back to Congress
after 60 days, as was required by Congress during the Gulf War, about the
actions our military will take. Additionally, this resolution authorizes
an open-ended action and significantly reduces Congress’s authority in
this matter. We must bring the perpetrators of this horrific action to
justice. But during this period of grief, mourning, and anger, the U.S.
Congress has a responsibility to urge the use of restraint so that the
violence does not spiral out of control and to consider all of the
implications of our actions."
History
will write that Congress, fumbling blindly in the dark night of terrorist
war fever, has made a grave mistake in giving George W. Bush unchecked
power to use the military power of this country as he chooses.
Lee lit the
first candle of light in that darkness.
Thanks.